BloodStained Apple
by Charlie the Twisted Sadist
Summary: Well, like many others, I'm not good at making summaries..: Just try it..: It's an adventure, Al finds himself lovestruck with supposedly their sensei's godchild who is an enemy's daughter... Could this one be a 'forbidden love? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

Blood-Stained Apple

Twisted-LogicTM (A.R)

Chapter 1

"Ed! Al! I want the both of you here, now!" Izumi shouted at the brothers as they were sparring. They both stopped dead and looked at her.

They both went to her, uncomplaining. Al spoke first, "hai, sensei?"

"The both of you, I want you to run some errands for me." She paused and the both of them nodded casually. "Ed, here, take these," she said, handing him a pile of papers and continued, "deliver them for me. Their addresses are written at the back of the envelopes. And you," she turned to Al, "here," she handed him a piece of paper and some money. "Buy those for me. And don't come back until you've finished the tasks."

Both of them nodded. "Hai."

They were already on the streets when Al suggested, "Nee, nii-san, why don't we go together?"

"Sorry, Al, but don't you have to go to the market place? I have to go to the suburbs, pal," Ed answered with a tone of complaining.

"Oh. That's right. Ah well. See you later!" Al cheerfully said.

With that, the brothers left for their destinations.

Ho-hum -

Alphonse was walking home, done with his err- shopping. Or so he thinks.

"Let's see," he started as he darted through the shopping list Izumi gave him. "I've got all the things here…"

"I've always hated doing things for her… Hell I care about her automail… She's lucky mom's--" she was forced to stop as she walked into something solid and cold. And hard. Everything in her arms fell to the ground.

"Oh. I'm sorry!" Al said as he collected the girl's stuff from the ground, then putting his hands on her shoulders, shaking her, to make sure she's still conscious.

"No, it's… It's fine. I'M sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going… Umm… Sorry," the klutzy girl blabbered as she helped him pick her stuff up from the ground.

"No, it's alright. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, either."

She stared at him for a few moments, then when she caught his eye, a smile spread across her face, holding back what would be a giggle. Al, on the other hand, let out a sound that resembled a chuckle.

When they've finished up picking her stuff up, Al said, "well, sorry for bumping into you like that. Why don't I help you carry your stuff to your house? They seem quite a lot…"

"Oh no, it would be a bother to. I think I could manage… I hope…" She wobbled, doing her best to carry the load, but it was a failed attempt, though. Everything would've fallen if Al hadn't caught some.

"Well?" He asked again.

"Sure. Thanks," she said with an embarrassed smile.

Al carried most of the stuff as they made their way to her house. It was awkward. No one spoke as they trekked through the quite rugged path.

"Oh, that's right," the girl suddenly said, making Al jump slightly. "I thought I was forgetting something. I still haven't introduced myself. How rude," she giggled. "I'm Stephanie Layman. And you are..?"

"Alphonse Elric. Please, call me Al."

"Elric..? Elric…" She whispered to herself, pondering.

"Umm… Is there a problem?" Al asked her.

Stephanie shook her head, stretched her arm toward him and offered her hand. Al took it and shook hands with her.

"Well, I'm just… Kind of wondering," she hesitated for a second, but was soon interrupted.

"Yes?" Al asked politely and innocently curious.

"I'm aware that we've only met, but… Are you a soul bound to an automail armor?" She finally asked, her eyes looking straight at him, truly unwavering.

"Eh? Aaa… I," he was alarmed a bit then sighed. He knew lying wouldn't do him any good. He wasn't good at it. Plus, there was this force telling him to tell her the truth. Then he just put it in words. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

She chuckled mischievously then said, "well, for one thing, you wouldn't go running around wearing a heavy armor suit, right?"

With what she said, Al sighed to himself happily as he thought of the time that he used the excuse that it was "his hobby" wearing armor suits.

"Well, I won't be asking further questions about that. Sorry for intruding," Stephanie said.

"It's alright."

Just to change the topic, she started, "hey… You aren't from around here, are you?"

Al shook his head. "No. My brother and I are just dropping by our sensei's house to pay her a visit."

"Oh. Okay. Thought so." Stephanie slowed down her pace and stopped in front of quite a large, cement house, but homey all the same. The walls were painted beige, and a pair of huge, white-paned windows settled at either side of the snow-white door. The tiles on the roof were a reddish-brown color.

"Wow. What a nice house," Al thought to himself.

"So, Alphonse-kun, why don't we come in?" She smiled as she stepped onto the front porch, into the house.

"Oh. Okay…" He followed. Something sharp hit his mind when he heard her call him by his name.

"Tadaima!" Stephanie called out.

"Okaeri nasai, Hani!" Her mom greeted. "I'm in the kitchen!"

"Shall we?" Stephanie suggested.

"I-I don't know… What if your mom-?"

"Nonsense. Our family's used to people like you." She motioned her head to the kitchen and smiled. "Come on, don't worry. Trust me."

"Well… If you say so then," he replied, uneasy.

When they reached the kitchen, Stephanie dropped everything on the table, and gestured him to do the same. Stephanie's mom had her back to them, facing the oven. She was busying herself with a tray she took from the oven, which she carried to the kitchen table before looking up at them.


	2. Chapter 2

2nd Bite

"Oh," her mom started, with the slightest hint of surprise. "Hello there. I hadn't noticed." She smiled quite an embarrassed smile. "Hani-chan, why don't you introduce me to your friend?"

She had simple, but elegant physical attributes. Shoulder-length, blond hair that was tied up. She had puddles of light sapphire for eyes, and a pasty complexion, but had a little color on the cheeks, and lips.

"Right. Oka-chan, this is Alphonse-kun. I bumped into him earlier and he insisted on helping me carry all of sis's stuff." She turned to Al and said, "Alphonse-kun, this is my mom."

"Oh, is that so? How kind of you to help Hani-chan," she started, still smiling. "By the way, I'm Gianna Layman."

"It was all right, it was my fault for not looking where I was going. Anyway, I'm Alphonse Elric. Pleased to meet you," he said, offering his hand. Gianna removed her mittens and shook hands with him.

"You say you're Alphonse Elric, correct?" Gianna asked, her tone motherly.

Al nodded.

"You're one of Izumi-chan's apprentices, aren't you?"

"Chan?" Al thought, but still nodded.

"How adorable," she sighed, her tone sincere. "She's told me a lot of stories about you and your brother. She said you two had the talent in alchemy." She smiled a classical mother's smile.

"R-Really?" He asked, unbelieving.

"Of course."

"Hah? Wait, wait, WAIT!!!" Stephanie interrupted, apparently out-of-place. "So _you_ _and _your brother are the people she's been talking about!"

"You don't have to get hysterical about it, Hani-chan," Gianna said, trying to calm her daughter down.

Fortunately, Stephanie settled down, took a deep breath and finally said, "oh, okay. That's why I thought your name was familiar. She brags about you when we train. Ah well, congratulations for her praises," she said, giving Al a pat on the back.

"Umm… Thanks, Stephanie-san," he said, awkward.

"Oh please, call me Hani."

"Okay… Hani-san," he plainly said.

Hani.

"So, Alphonse-kun, you'll be staying at Izumi-chan's place, right?" Gianna said, putting a stop to Al and Stephanie's awkward moment.

"Yes," he answered politely. "Why did you ask?"

"Well, I was going to ask Hani-chan to take this pie to Izumi-chan. I was just wondering if she could just come with you. If it's alright."

"Oh. It's fine, Gianna-san. That is, if it's okay with Hani-san."

"Fine by me," Stephanie answered. She turned to her mom and asked, "So, could I take a quick shower?"

"Sure you can, Hani-chan. Just make it quick, the pie would cool off soon," Gianna reminded her, moving to the sink and washing the utensils she used to bake the pie.

"Sure, sure. I'll make it quick."

She took off, leaving her mom and Al in the kitchen, Al was left standing at the kitchen doorway.

"Alphonse-kun," Gianna called lovingly.

"Yes?"

"Why don't you sit down? It's boring just to stand there," she said with a small chuckle.

"Okay," he said as the woman with tied up, blond hair approached him in a motherly fashion.

- Ho-hum -

After a few minutes of waiting, and - apparently with Gianna and Al's case - talking, a girl appeared before them. She had fine, light, mahogany hair, bright emerald green eyes and pinkish porcelain skin. Her features resembled nothing of her mother's. She skipped down the stairs wearing a printed blue top, which contrasted beautifully with her skin, and a pair of knee-length pants.

Al suddenly fell to a daze.

"Oka-chan, do I look okay?" Hani asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and pulling down her blouse.

"Of course you do. Doesn't she, Al?" Gianna asked, standing up to wrap up the pie.

Al went back to earth.

"I- she… Of course she does… Look beautiful," the last part was quite inaudible.

"Thanks," she said and smiled.

Gianna finished wrapping up the pie, and handed the basket to Stephanie.

"Well, we'll be going then. Love you," Stephanie said, readying herself to go.

Gianna kissed her daughter on her forehead. Al plainly watched them from the kitchen door. "Be back before dinner, okay?"

"Of course. Bye," she answered as they were walking out the door.

"Itterasshai," Gianna called out to the both of them.

"So," Stephanie started as they were walking down the back street to Izumi's house. "Alphonse-kun, I heard you and mom laughing. What were you two talking about?"

"Oh, nothing much. She was just asking about me and my brother," he answered.

"Then why were you laughing?" She persisted.

"Laughing? Well, she mentioned something about sensei getting drunk and mistaking you for her husband," he said, looking away and suppressing his giggles.

"Yeah, well, people do things when they're drunk," she simply concluded.

The two of them talked as they tread down the streets. Not long after, they arrived at the Curtis' residence. They decided to go in through the back door.

"Tadaima," Al called out casually as he held the door open for Stephanie.

Edward ran down the stairs to the kitchen and screamed, at the top of his lungs, "Al!!! Where the hell have you been??! I've been waiting here, all bored and—" he stopped and caught a glimpse of Stephanie then continued, "you _DARE_ bring a girl home with you?? At _sensei_'s house? What the hell were you thinking??!"

"Nii-san, calm down, I can explain! See, she's—"

"What's all the ruckus about?"

The brothers stopped dead as Izumi herself stepped into the kitchen, yawning, apparently just woken up. Al let go of Izumi's stuff on the table, quite panicky.

"Sensei! We were just- we were—"


	3. Chapter 3

3rd Bite

"Ba-chan!" Stephanie greeted happily.

Izumi caught a glance of Stephanie and said, "oh." She rubbed her eyes. "Hani!" She swooped over to her and hugged her tightly. Too tightly. Stephanie had quite a hard time breathing.

"Uhh… They know each other?" Ed asked Al from the sidelines, watching the two.

Izumi then let go of her and pulled on her cheeks until they were red and really painful.

"It hurts enough, ba-chan… Please stop! Please, please, PLEASE!!!," she pleaded. A tear was visible from the side of her eye.

Izumi gave her a final pull on the cheek and said, "come on, after all our training, don't tell me a simple pinch on the cheek would make you cry."

"Of course not," Stephanie answered with a serene smile.

Izumi held her at her shoulders and took a nice long look at her. "You haven't changed a bit, Hani."

With this, the brothers paid close attention to them.

"Ba-chan… I've been here two weeks ago," she said.

Brothers: . . . . .

"Yeah, well, I still missed you." She smiled.

At this point, the brothers were totally lost. And clueless of what was happening.

"So, when did you turn up?"

"I came with Alphonse-kun," she stated with a smile.

"Eh?" Izumi abruptly uttered. Ed was still quite in his state of shock.

"Sensei! I—err—" Al suddenly exclaimed, but was quickly interrupted.

"I wasn't talking to _you_, I was talking to _her_," Izumi growled at Al. She gave him a nice whack in the head that he had to fetch his head that was sent flying. She was nice and warm again when she faced Stephanie, "now, what happened?"

"Nothing, really. I was just buying some stuff for nee-chan then I bumped into him."

Izumi was going to open her mouth when Stephanie continued, "don't be mad at _him_, ba-chan. I wasn't looking where I was going. And he even insisted on helping me carry my stuff so I let him. Then he met mom—"

"He met Gianna?" She butted in.

Stephanie nodded.

"What did she say?" Izumi prodded.

"Nothing much. But they _did_ chat while I took a shower," she said, heaving a deep sigh. Ed an Al were still stiff, plainly listening to their conversation.

"How ironic," Izumi said with a calm voice.

"Yeah, well… Anyway, mom made this for you," she said, handing Izumi the basket.

Snapping back to consciousness, the brothers stared.

She took it and smelt it pleasurably and said more to herself than to the others, "peach and cherry pie." She set the pie on the table, started to unwrap it and said, not looking at them, "Hani, Ed, why don't we eat some? Dear won't be here until next week, and Al… Well… Can't." The last part was quite inaudible.

"It's alright. I'll put Gianna-san's pie on the list of things I would eat when I get my body back," Al said optimistically.

"Okay then, let's eat!" Ed suddenly said, getting away from the topic. He was really ready to gobble down every crumb of the pie he could lay his hands on.

So they ate. They ate as they exchanged comedic stories of their misadventures. In the middle of the exchange, Stephanie remembered to introduce herself to Ed.

"Oh, that's right… I haven't introduced myself to you yet," she told Ed. "I'm Stephanie Layman. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

"Yeah. I'm Edward Elric, Al's older brother," he answered. "Yoroshiku."

When they were done, Izumi bossed Ed to wash the dishes. She then went back to Stephanie. Ed was fast. Conveniently fast. Izumi gestured the brothers to get out of the kitchen, and out of earshot.

"Stay out of the kitchen and out of earshot," she told them.

"Hai!" The brothers answered and bustled out.

"Nee, nii-san," Al started as they were semi-out-of-earshot. Ed looked up at him, confused.

"What?"

"I wonder… What would sensei and Hani-san talk about that they didn't want us to hear?"

"I've been thinking, too, Al," he said. "Why don't we eavesdrop?" He suggested, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Eavesdrop?! But what if sensei catches us? What would she do?" They stopped for a moment to think of the possible torture and violence Izumi would do to them if ever they were caught. They trembled. "Nii-san… Aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid? Nah," Ed said somewhat triumphantly. Then he shattered to tiny glass-like pieces. "I—I—am. But, don't you want to know what they're talking about?"

"I… I do, but…"

"Then it's settled. We'll just have to be extra careful on this, okay? Don't worry, we won't get caught," Ed reassured him, with an evil snigger.

"Well…" Al gulped, "if you say so, then."

So the both of them went back to the kitchen door. They first took a glimpse of the inside to make sure neither of the girls was sensing their presence, or at least wasn't looking in their direction. They crouched under the windowpane, and started eavesdropping. Then they ducked just in time before Izumi turned her head to their direction.

"What's wrong?" They heard Stephanie say. The brothers were so nervous they weren't moving an inch.

To the brothers' convenience, a cat jumped on to the windowpane and onto the roof.

"Nothing. Just a cat," Izumi answered, turning back to Stephanie.

"That—that was close," Ed sighed, relieved.

"_Very_ close, nii-san," Al replied, a bit exasperated.

"Now, look, Hani, isn't there any way I could talk you out of this?" Izumi asked her. Her voice was quite out of the ordinary. The kind of voice she has when she talks to them like a concerned mother.

"I'm sorry, ba-chan," Stephanie started. "I'm-I'm really sorry. Sorry to go with something you're so against on. Well, you're not the only one who doesn't like that idea."

"Then why are you still persisting on it?" her voice rose quite dramatically. She had her head on her hand, massaged it to fight the incoming headache.

The eavesdroppers shifted uneasily from their posts, yet were left unnoticed.

"I told you the reason, haven't I, ba-chan? I'll tell you again if I have to," Stephanie sighed. Izumi didn't answer so she continued, "dad was the one who taught me the fundamentals of alchemy and he died in the Ishvalan war. But before he did, he told my mom he wanted me to be an alchemist. He wanted me to search for the kind of truth this world of ours refused to see. Mom didn't approve of it, naturally. They even had a fight. Before she knew, dad was already shipped off. Then…" She stopped for a second to sigh. Izumi was about to say something but was interrupted, "his body was shipped back, we had the funeral. Mom felt bad about it so she decided to let me do with alchemy, even if she strongly opposed." She sighed again and smiled sadly. "Plus, I wanted this, too."

Izumi sighed. "You're impossible."

"I know I am."

The brothers leaned closer to listen.

"Don't worry. If anything out of my principles happens, I'll drop immediately. Trust me on this," Stephanie reassured.

Izumi stared at her hopelessly. "I just really hope you understand what I'm trying to tell you. As a concerned teacher, I really hope you understand."

The brothers heard a chair scraping the floor. The next thing Izumi knew was that Stephanie had her arms around her.

After one tight hug, Izumi broke away and held Stephanie by the shoulders to the point that they hurt. "Okay, enough with the damn cheesy stuff, this is_ sooooo _not me."

"Awwwe!!! How sweet! That's so precious!" The brothers suddenly burst.

Izumi shot them a piercing death glare.

"Uh-oh," Ed and Al whispered to themselves.


	4. Chapter 4

4th Bite

"Uh-oh? Hah," Izumi sneered, "that's a nice response. I was expecting the both of you to panic but may I say… You exceeded my expectations."

"Nii-san, I told you eavesdropping was a bad idea! Now what're we supposed to do?!" Al asked Ed, trembling, not paying attention to Izumi's monologue.

"Guess we better make a run for it," Ed quietly answered, a bead of sweat running down his cheek.

"On three?"

"Sure."

"One…" Al started.

"Now… What's the worse penalty I could give the both of you?" Izumi said, rubbing her hands for what was coming next.

"Two…" Ed whispered.

Stephanie sniggered. "Have fun!" She called out. You'd think she's saying it to some kindergartner going on a field trip. On the other hand, for the siblings, no matter how they look at it, it's definitely a life-and-death situation.

"Don't worry, Hani… I will," Izumi answered, somewhat sounding sickly masochistic.

"Three!!!" The both of them screamed as they started to run for it.

"Where do you think _you're _going?!" Izumi yelled as she clapped her hands together and forced them to the ground. Immediately, the ground sprout out something like cement, hard and evidently painful, aiming at the brothers' heads. Spikes came flying toward them. It was out of sheer luck neither of them was hit… Until now.

"Ow! That hurt!" Ed screamed as he clapped his hands and forced them to the ground as Izumi did. A shield-like wall of cement protected from the next one that was aimed at his guts. But it didn't last long. It broke down, and shattered to pieces. "Al! Run! It's no use! Run while there's still land!"

"Faster, nii-san, FASTER!!!" Al yelped back.

So, they did. But Izumi was quickly at their tail, out the back yard and away. Stephanie casually strolled to where all the action was.

"What do think you're gonna do now? It's futile! Haha, you perfectly know that you'll never escape me!" Izumi yelled, masochistically as ever, still throwing them stuff.

"_She's damn right…"_ They both thought, discouraged.

They kept at it until… They reached a dead end.

"Uh-oh…"

"I'm starting to like that," Izumi sneered again. Something in her voice made the aura a milestone more… Scarier.

"Don't kill them just yet, ba-chan," Stephanie called happily. "I still want to know them more, you see."

"Don't worry, Hani," she reassured her. "I won't kill them. I'm just going to give them a little lecture on the wrong they did when they eavesdropped on us earlier when _I clearly_ told them not to listen!"

The boys were trembling, they both had their hands in each other's.

"Al, if ever you survive this, and I don't, I just want to tell you that I was the one who took your candy that day…" Ed confessed.

"WHAT?!" Al suddenly gabbled.

"Now, here comes divine retribution…" Izumi started, but before she could clap her hands, there was something sharp that stabbed her insides. She plummeted to the ground, coughing. Stephanie noticed there wasn't any blood, so she remained there, standing. She hadn't stopped coughing, making the brothers worry, causing them to come to her aid.

"Izumi-sensei, are you alright?" Al worriedly asked.

Izumi looked up. "Gotcha." She then clapped her hands together, and a hard material sprang out from the ground and into the siblings' faces.

"I knew it," Stephanie giggled to herself.

"Ouch! Hell, that hurt! What did you do that for?!" Ed complained.

"My head!" Al exclaimed as he put it back in place again. It was disembodied in their sensei's attack.

"Why the hell were you resisting earlier?!" Izumi was infuriated.

"Well, I was—err… I was—" Ed was interrupted.

"Was what?!" exclaimed Izumi.

"I was acting on instinct!" He protested, not noticing that Al inched away from their argument and positioned himself next to Stephanie.

"Instinct? Hah, don't give me _that_ kind of crap!" She retorted.

"It's true! Instinct! And my instincts told me that the things you were throwing at us would either be painful, or would just knock my head off!" He persisted.

"That was why I was throwing them at you!"

"I thought you weren't gonna kill us?!"

Their argument continued. Al and Hani were walking home merrily, all smiles and talking happily.

The arguing pair blindly followed behind.

They reached home, Al held the door open for Hani, Ed and Izumi. All so suddenly, Izumi stopped.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"I hadn't noticed… It's already late," she answered. She turned to Hani, "why don't you stay here for dinner?"

"Oh, sorry, but I promised mom I'd be back before dinner," she answered. "I really should get going, too."

"Oh. Okay, then." She turned her head to the brothers and said, "Ed, Al, why don't you walk Hani home? You don't have anything better to do anyway, right?"

The brothers just nodded.

"Well, like I said… I'll be going. Thanks for having me today. Bye!"

"Nah. It's always fine. Stay here for dinner tomorrow, okay?" She insisted.

Stephanie smiled broadly and nodded.

"You boys better be back before dinner," Izumi called to the entourage.

They responded with a nice, long, "haaaai!"

"Geez… I didn't notice it was already _this_ late," Ed said when they were already a few paces away from the house.

"Well, nii-san, you were too busy arguing with sensei to notice," Al retorted.

"Yeah, well, don't blame_ me_ for it!"

"I wasn't blaming you, nii-san. I was just pointing out facts," Al answered politely.

"Whatever…"

"It must be fun hanging out with you, huh?" Stephanie suddenly said. She didn't speak for quite a while, so this made the brothers jump a bit.

"Hanging out with us..?" Ed repeated.

"Is… Fun?" Al asked.

"Well, yeah. You must always go on adventures and all… Right?" She continued.

"Umm… Quite. Heheh," Ed answered. He thought that the word 'adventures' wasn't that appropriate. 'Misadventures' was more like it.

"_If only this girl knew…" _

"It was a really good thing I ran into Alphonse-kun, or it would've been another boring day for me…" She said with a smile.

"Well, good for you," Ed said, almost nonchalantly.

Even if he couldn't _physically_, what Stephanie said made Al smile, too.

"At least something good came out of that incidental meeting," Al sighed, evidently contented.


End file.
